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As I concluded in part one, and in case it is not clear to you yet, I am NOT referring to a physically-recognized, political country with earthly borders such as the state of Israel. Rather, I am really referring to a global, spiritual, eternal nation which knows no physical borders. As you have probably figured out by now, this new nation is comprised of all Christian believers everywhere, and for all time.

Based upon Isaiah 66:7-8 and other verses I will be sharing with you momentarily, I am convinced that this is what Jesus was actually talking about when He told the Jewish religious leaders that the Kingdom would be taken from them, and given to another nation. Furthermore, Jesus very clearly told them that the cornerstone which they had so foolishly rejected -- meaning Himself -- would become the foundation stone for His new spiritual nation. Let me share Matthew 21:43 with you one more time to refresh your memory, along with some other verses:

"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."


"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."


"The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes."


"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?"


"And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again."


"And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?"


"Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day."


"But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation."


"He came unto his own, and his own received him not."


"This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner."


"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."


"To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed [that is disapproved, rejected, repudiated] indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed."


To reiterate my previous point, I am convinced that Jesus is the man child -- or the son -- who was prophesied to be born to Zion. Furthermore, it was Jesus alone who would ultimately be responsible for the sudden creation of a nation "at once" and "in a day", exactly as Isaiah had prophesied. After all, this new nation perfectly meets all of the requirements which were established by Isaiah's amazing prophecy. Why? Because this nation had in fact never existed before at any time in human history. On the other hand, the same cannot be said of the nation of Israel because it had already existed for several thousand years.

Earlier, I mentioned how some people might argue that what I am saying is not true, because Jesus was not actually born in the city of Jerusalem. However, there is something such people are overlooking. While it is indeed true that Jesus was physically born southwest of Jerusalem in Bethlehem, let me ask the doubters a few questions:

1. What was the last city Jesus visited prior to His death?
2. Where did Jesus hold His last Passover meal?
3. Where was Jesus judged and crucified?
4. Where was Jesus buried?
5. Where did Jesus rise from the dead?

Of course, the answer to all five of the previous questions is Jerusalem. You see, the reason why I'm so convinced that this mysterious, prophesied nation did not exist prior to Jesus' Sacrifice and Resurrection, is because the Bible very plainly informs us that Jesus was in fact the first member of this new spiritual nation. This nation could not possibly have even existed until Christ died and rose from the dead. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus is the first begotten of the dead, the firstborn and likewise the firstfruits of the Resurrection. He was the first glorified son of the harvest.

Are you starting to get the picture now? While He may have been physically born in Bethlehem, Jesus was also spiritually REBORN in a new type of body in Jerusalem, the moment that He rose from the dead. I discuss the qualities of this new body in the series entitled "Sex, A Bowl of Soup, and the Nature of Angels". To reiterate, the moment that Jesus rose from the dead in Jerusalem, a new nation was born "in one day" and "at once" exactly as the Prophet Isaiah had written. Thus Jesus did in fact completely fulfill the prophecy we find in Isaiah 66:7-8. Please carefully consider the following set of verses:

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have THE FIRSTFRUITS of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body . . . For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be THE FIRSTBORN among many brethren."


"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become THE FIRSTFRUITS of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ THE FIRSTFRUITS; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."


"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, THE FIRSTBORN OF EVERY CREATURE: . . . And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD; that in all things he might have the preeminence."


"To the general assembly and CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,"


"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be A KIND OF FIRSTFRUITS of his creatures."


"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and THE FIRST BEGOTTEN OF THE DEAD, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,"


"These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being THE FIRSTFRUITS unto God and to the Lamb."


Jesus also made it very plain in His conversation with the Pharisee Nicodemus, that in order to become members of this new spiritual nation, we must be born of water -- meaning a physical birth in the womb, as Nicodemus understood -- and of the Spirit, through our faith in Christ. Consider the Lord's words to Nicodemus:

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."


There is further proof that the nation of which both Isaiah and Jesus spoke is really the spiritual nation of worldwide Believers in Jesus Christ. Earlier, I shared certain verses with you where the Apostle Peter addresses the First Century Christian brethren. In those verses, not only does Peter make it very plain that Jesus Christ is the founder of God's new spiritual temple in which we Believers are symbolic living stones, but Peter also refers to the Body of Christ as "an holy nation". Let me share those verses with you again:

"To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."


As we've already seen, Jesus clearly stated in Matthew 21:43 that the Kingdom of God would be taken from the unbelieving Jews who rejected Him, and would be given to another more worthy nation. That is to say, to a nation of Believers in Christ Jesus, who truly demonstrate the fruits of repentance. Is there any additional Scriptural evidence which mentions this transfer of power and spiritual anointing and authority? There most certainly is. Furthermore, it is directly tied to the previous verses which were written by Peter. The reason why Peter could write with such authority, is because Jesus Himself gave Peter this authority, as becomes evident by the following verses which are found in the Gospel of Matthew:

"And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."


In spite of his own shortcomings -- his cowardice, and his own betrayal of Christ, for example -- Peter firmly believed that Jesus was the long-prophesied Messiah, the Christ, and Jesus obviously recognized this quality in Peter. Thus, the Lord chose Peter to lead the followers of the fledging First Century Church, once He had returned to His Father in Heaven.

However, please realize that while the Lord gave Peter this special blessing, this is a far cry from the Roman Catholic doctrine which promotes the false belief that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, and thus, the very first Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. As you may know, the Roman Catholic Church uses this misguided false doctrine to try to validate and justify their supposed spiritual superiority, as well as authority, over other Christian churches. It is all a pack of devilish lies.

As I have pointed out before, while Jesus gave Peter certain authority, the Gospels, as well as the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, seem to indicate that Peter may not have fully embraced that authority all for himself. While Peter appears to have been the Apostles' primary spokesman, these Books suggest that leadership within the First Century Church was shared equally by Peter, James and John. Please consider the following group of verses:

"And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)"


"And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,"


"And he [Jesus] suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James."


"And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them."


"And as he [Jesus] sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,"


"And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;"


"And when he [Jesus] came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden."


"And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray."


"And when James, Cephas [Peter], and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision."


So as we can plainly see, in His wisdom, the Lord actually set up a triumvirate type of leadership structure for the Early Church. In this way, there was a check and balance system put in place. Furthermore, doing it this way was in fact in accordance with the following Bible verses:

"Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die."


"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you."


"One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established."


"Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety ."


"Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established."


"For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety."


"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."


"This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."


"Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear."


"He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:"


As we also know, it was not long after that, that the Lord likewise raised up a very unlikely character in the form of Saul of Tarsus. As many of you will already know, Saul was a very proud and stubborn Pharisee, and formerly a very strong opponent and serious persecutor of the Lord's Church. That is, until Jesus smote him down and blinded him, as he rode on the road to Damascus, where he intended to arrest the Disciples. However, after being broken by the Lord, Paul was transformed into the Apostle to the Gentiles, as we see by the following group of verses:

"For I [Paul] speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:"


"For I [Paul] am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."


"For I [Paul] think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men."


"Whereunto I [Paul] am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity."


"Whereunto I [Paul] am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles."


It is also important to realize that in the previous verses where Jesus gives authority to Peter, the Lord is actually referring to Himself when He states "upon this rock I will build my church". Contrary to Roman Catholic doctrine, I do not share the opinion that Jesus is calling Peter the rock, even though Jesus did name him Cephas -- meaning "a rock" -- due to his obviously strong character and personality. Peter being the rock is just another intentional Roman Catholic deception. Peter seems to confirm that Jesus was referring to Himself as the Rock, in the verses I shared with you a moment ago where Peter refers to Jesus as the Cornerstone of God's spiritual temple. The Apostle Paul likewise states the following:

"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."


So to reiterate, while Peter may have been nicknamed Cephas by Jesus, it should be evident to you that the Lord is the only true Rock, as well as the only High Priest, Mediator and Intercessor of our Christian faith. There is no other. Certainly not Mary, as the Roman Catholic Church insists.

Returning to our primary discussion, the main point that I wish for you to grasp, is that the unbelieving Jews did in fact lose the Kingdom, precisely as Jesus stated that they would, as a result of their rejection of the chosen Messiah. Furthermore, this same Kingdom was given to a new, spiritual nation, comprised of believers in Jesus Christ. As I pointed out in part one, the birth of God's new nation is directly linked to the birth of the man child, Jesus Christ, exactly as Isaiah had prophesied in the two Scriptures we examined earlier. You may recall that Isaiah seems to convey the idea that the birth of this new nation would be accompanied by a certain degree of surprise and astonishment. This event was going to be something unique and out of the ordinary. Well, a virgin woman giving birth to a child was certainly a very unique event. Equally amazing was her own son rising from the dead some thirty-three years later.

Exactly when this new nation was born is a matter of personal conjecture. Whether we establish it as the moment that Jesus died on the Cross, or three days later when He rose from the dead, one thing is absolutely certain: If we stop to examine the events which transpired during that entire period, and the things that were stated by some of the participants who were involved in those events, it becomes obvious that there was plenty of surprise, astonishment, and fear going around. Consider the following verses that we find in Matthew chapter twenty-seven:

"Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God."


One problem with reading the Bible, is that sometimes it can be difficult to recognize when time gaps exist between some of the events. At first glance, one might erroneously assume that the events described in the previous verses all occurred shortly after Jesus died on the Cross. However, it seems to me that a careful reading of the above verses indicates that Matthew is describing things which occurred, not right after Jesus died on the Cross, but rather three days later when He miraculously rose from the dead.

In other words, contrary to what we see in certain Hollywood movies, the centurion did not say "Truly this was the Son of God" as he gazed upon Jesus dying on the Cross. The soldiers were undoubtedly desensitized, having already witnessed many such crucifixions of criminals. Jesus' Crucifixion was just another one and a part of their job. Jesus did nothing while hanging on the Cross, which would give the centurion reason to make such a remark.

On the other hand, the centurion's remark makes more sense if we realize that it was said three days later when a great earthquake occurred, and Jesus rose from the dead. When it states that they were "watching Jesus", it doesn't mean that they were watching Him die on the Cross. I am convinced that it means that they were watching His grave, as they had been instructed to do by Pilate and the unbelieving Jewish elders who feared that the Lord might actually rise from the dead, as we see in these verses:

"Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch."


At any rate, I discuss these very same events in the article entitled "A Temple Veil, an Earthquake and a Centurion", if you would like to take the time to read it. You will find the link for this article at the end of this same series.

Please go to part three for the conclusion of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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